Embracing Insanity
by MelanieBea
Summary: At Volutri Mental Institution everything was grey. Everything was lifeless. Then he arrived and changed it all. Can Bella figure out what has her so captivated by the new patient who seems anything but grey? Edward/Bella
1. Where Dreams Go To Die

***Obviously we are not the owners of Twilight ... it clearly owns us. =)**

***oh and the chapter titles are inspired by amazing songs. this one is Where Dreams Go To Die by The Downtown Fiction  
**

What else was I supposed to do? What else could I do besides stare deep into those eyes? Those beautiful emeralds that haunted his face like a ghost clinging onto its last chance at life, because that was exactly what he was doing.

I watched him struggle and scream. "No! Please! No!" his angelic voice shouted again and again. I wanted to help him, to cry out "please" with him, but I couldn't do that. He had been brought here to lose whatever sanity he had, despite all the efforts of doctors, just like all the others I had seen. We just wanted the best for them, and we pretend like we know what that is, but we never do. Now that he was here, there was no escape. But as much as I wanted to believe that there was something more in those green gems, I knew that he was just another patient and I was just another nurse.

"Isabella!" I tore my gaze away to look at the men holding the new patient. "Get Dr. Cullen; the patient needs to be sedated," Tyler, a burly man who was at the moment restraining the patient's left arm while another man was holding the right, said frustrated. I nodded curtly, pressing a button on the pager hanging on my hip. Waiting for Dr. Cullen, I watched Mike and Tyler attempt to lay this patient onto the white couch.

What was his name? I couldn't help but let the question creep upon me. We referred to him as "the patient." He wasn't just a patient, he was a person, he had a name.

Dr. Cullen strode into the room calmly. He was holding a clipboard and was followed by a nurse. The nurse, Angela, who was wearing the same white scrubs as me, held a large syringe. I cringed seeing the needle, I always did even when it was me who was holding it. "Hello, Edward." Dr. Cullen had read it off the clipboard with a soothing smile on his face. Edward. It suited him. It was elegant and proper. I could imagine him in a collared shirt, hair combed, features colored with concentration as he wrote with a pen. Even with his forced on grey shirt, bronze locks tousled, face distorted with screams as he kicked and yelled, he could be an Edward.

"Please! No!" I had heard Edward say it so many times now. How could I get used to that? His words felt like a matchbox, I was the match. With each strike, with each word, I felt as though someone had set me on fire. I had no idea why, but his pained cries tore me up inside. Angela was pressing the needle into Edward's arm by now, plunging the medicine into him. I waited for him to stop thrashing under the men's grasp; eventually he did. His eyes glazed over and Dr. Cullen let out a sigh of relief along with a weary smile.

"May I see?" I asked, reaching out for the clipboard. Dr. Cullen chuckled at my curiosity, but handed it to me. It was a very common ailment he had: Schizophrenia. He was Edward Anthony Masen, born in Chicago, age twenty-two. I frowned as I read on. He had been accepted to a medical school in California, he was going to be a doctor just like Dr. Cullen. It was a constant enigma to me why anyone would strive to be around people who constantly called out to the dead, heard hidden voices, and... couldn't grasp reality. The confusion I felt towards the desire to help the deranged included me as well. I just got so tired of the sadness and the hopelessness I wondered why I continued on here.

I tried to blink back the tears, harshly handing the clipboard back to Carlisle.

I rushed through the halls, seeing nothing, like usual, but open doors and blank faces in white rooms. There was sometimes the occasional yell or cry, but nothing too loud. It seemed like this is how it always had been, lost people, lonely corridors, and silent everything. It had been exactly the same for two years. Why did this destination always seem so far away? Though I could finally see the door near the end of the hall. "Emmett?" I called lightly, peering into the room.

My brother sat on the single bed in his room, the sheets another shade of grey. It seemed everything here at Volturi Mental Institution was grey and lifeless; including my poor big brother. It felt like I had lost him a lifetime ago. When he lost Rosalie, he had lost everything. Emmett smiled at me. "Bella, my angel's here again." His voice was filled with genuine happiness.

About three years ago, Emmett unfortunately witnessed his fiancée and childhood sweetheart Rosalie Hale mercilessly beaten by a man named Royce King. Royce saw Rosalie first when she began working in the same law office as him. At once, he knew he wanted her, but Rosalie was in love with Emmett. Royce, knowing he couldn't have Rosalie, wanted to make sure no one else would either. Wondering why Rosalie was taking so long at work, a worried Emmett went to her office to see her bloody on the floor. Royce stood over her. Emmett stared at her unmoving body, it could have been years to him before he heard sirens, footsteps and voices. The last thing he heard was a stranger's voice, most likely the paramedic, "I can't find a pulse!" That was when Emmett blacked out.

Hours later, I took him to see Rosalie. As he peered into the hospital bed, he said quietly, "My angel." Instead of the sight of Rosalie's broken limbs, bruised face, and heavy machinery all around her, he saw his angel in perfect condition. He didn't hear my worried words or the constant beeping of her monitored heartbeat, he heard his angel speaking in a beautiful voice, just as she always had and always would.

Rosalie had survived the excruciating pain Royce had caused, but Emmett had not. He continued to believe that his love was dead and appeared to him as his angel. I desperately tried to explain to him that Rosalie hadn't died. Even Rosalie, after awakening from her comma couldn't persuade her fiancée that she was alive. After months of psychiatric visits and pointless words trying to convince him of Rosalie's existence, he was diagnosed with a case of posttraumatic stress disorder and was admitted to Volturi Mental Institution. He had been there, in room 216, for the past nineteen months.

In desperate need to help my brother, I dropped my life. I walked away from school, work, and friends. I had originally planned to be an English teacher. I was just starting out at the University of Washington when Emmett was in need of serious professional help. More than what I could ever provide. The only family I had was Emmett and after him caring for me and protecting me for twenty years, it was my turn. I owed it to him. So there I was, working a job that literally had me crying myself to sleep most nights, just so that I could be there for my brother like he had been there for me my entire life. It wasn't just Emmett that affected me there at VMI it was mostly how it seemed as though happiness was unobtainable. I only saw two people "recover" during my past year working here. Both Tanya and Alice didn't leave with smiles on their faces, but at least they left. They were "cured" of their delusions and could function in society…or so was the assumption. I never really found out if they succeeded in life after VMI. I only hoped that they did. For their success could be Emmett's as well.

"Hi, Bella," I heard Rosalie say, her words shaking me back to reality. I smiled at her.

"Hi, Rose. I didn't see you there." She was so beautiful. I could see how Emmett mistook her for an angel, with her blonde locks, violet-blue eyes, and perfectly tanned skin. Even when Emmett thought she was dead, she was his everything.

"Do I have to leave now?" she asked and I could hear the trembling sadness in her voice. I shook my head.

"Not yet." She looked at Emmett with watery eyes and a small smile. He gave her his trademark grin and she laughed quietly, reaching out to hold his large hand. He hadn't heard her talking to me, he only heard some of what she said. She looked so fragile next to him. Emmett was tall and muscular with a shock of curly black hair and soft hazel brown eyes. Everyone seemed to look like a breakable glass doll near him. I stood there feeling so out of place as Emmett reached across his bed to tenderly grab Rose by the waist and slide her directly next to him because apparently where she was sitting next to his feet was too far. She was now pressed against Emmett's side, his arm still around her slender waist. I saw the tears freely falling down her face as she rested her head against his broad shoulder. It hurt her so much to see Emmett like this, but she loved him too much to stay away. Emmett never noticed it when she cried, he always saw his smiling angel.

When I first joined the staff at VMI, I thought I could help. I would smile at patients, denying the fact that they would never smile back. I would talk to them, not caring that my words seemed to go right past them. I did everything that I thought would help. But that all changed.

A year ago, I was assigned to a patient with multiple personaliaty disorder. There was no forgetting Jessica… or Lauren… or all the others she thought she was. I had talked to her everyday for three months; I had begun to think of her as a friend, for she actually spoke to me unlike so many others. Our smiles, our words, our friendship, I thought it was all helping her. I thought she would finally leave VMI. One night, after the doctors and nurses had gone home, and the patients were asleep, she left her room. All patients were forbidden to ever leave their room alone, but Jessica didn't care. She had slipped through the quiet halls, avoiding men like Tyler and Mike lurking about.

The next morning, Jessica Stanley was dead on the white tile floor of the kitchen, a bloody knife in her hand. I had found her. Our smiles, our words, our friendship: it was nothing to her. Everything we did for our patients, every act of kindness, and all the days we thought we had spent helping were nothing to any of them. No one understood what we tried to do for them.

I spent my first year at the Volturi Mental Institution with hope that I could cure. The second year, I did what I was told, but knew that it didn't matter, and it never would. I had given up; and maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was good that the hope I had wasn't attacked by lack of success in patients. I tried to convince myself that I didn't care, and if I didn't care it wouldn't hurt, but I could never fool myself. I saw Emmett in all of their lifeless faces, even though Emmett was anything but lifeless. Emmett was the only reason I pushed my self to stay. I couldn't abandon him, not even if I tried.

I shut the door with a timid click and continued down the hall. Every once in a while I would stick my head into a room, just to see another blank expression that I would answer with a forced smile and an even more forced perky greeting involving the weather or how good they looked today, though usually both were dismal and gray looking.

"Nurse Swan to room 218. Nurse Swan room 218." The voice called through the speaker system throughout the hospital. Thankfully I was close by and the walk to the room was short. The door was wide open and I could hear a calm, soothing voice emanating from within before I stepped inside.

"So Edward I think that's everything. I will see you tomorrow for our first session. If you have any questions you can ask Isabella. She is usually on this floor so she will be around if the need arises." I never could fathom how Dr. Cullen continued to speak to these patients as if they understood every word he said. He never lost hope that they would recover. Dr. Cullen turned around and gave me a warm smile which I returned with a little less enthusiasm than he offered then he left the room.

"Hi Edward. I'm Isabella." I started to say but as he looked at me with those perfectly green eyes I stopped midthought. His eyes drew me in, but I could'nt help but notice his strong jawline and soft lips. Paired with his odd colored hair, he really was a beautiful man. I could feel the blush color my face as I realized I had been staring. He smirked as if he knew I was totally ogling him.

"Hey." He responded cooly, smirk still in place.

"I uh-" professionalism took hold and I snapped out of my gorgeous man induced trance. "I'm here if you need anything. Actually my brother's room is right across from yours so if you can't find me I'm usually there. If not just use the phone over there and page me." I pointed to the simple phone mounted on the wall that allowed patients to call the nurses or the doctors. "it will connect you to the front desk and just ask for me. She will connect you. If it's an emergency-"

"Yeah I know, press the red button. Dr. Cullen already went over this with me. I'll be fine. You can leave. But if you ever want to check me out again I'll be here." And with that he snickered and went to lay down on his bed with his hands placed behind his head.

With no better retaliation coming to mind I just huffed – yes huffed like a spoiled little girl- and turned on my heel and left. I went to sit at my station at the end of the hall, my encounter with Edward still replaying in my head. If it was any other patient I would've written off his snarky comment as part of his disease, but something in his face threw me off. It was filled with life, and a sense of awareness that I have not seen on anyone inside this building, other than the other nurses and doctors of course. I shook my head and decided to let it go. Maybe Edward just hadn't lived in his own personal hell long enough. Soon, I told myself, he will be just like everybody else here: diluted by medications and devoid of vitality or personality.

**_AN:_**

**_so this is a story written by MrsMartinJohnson and her amazing older sister, schmerinmarie (i'm on twilighted).  
_**

**_schmerin: so sister what you gotta say bout our ... emo baby?_**

**_MMJ: i think its depressing man. why are we so emo?_**

**_schmerin: i dont know. but its not gonna be emo forever tho. remember that._**

**_MMJ: true that. _**

**_schmerin: hopefully people will read this... the world needs more angst anyway._**

**_MMJ: they will. oh they will. and they will REVIEW! lol =)  
_**


	2. Dear Agony

***Twilight not ours... a cat named Angel is though.**

***chapter title: Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin  
**

It felt oddly early that morning. Of course, I always woke up early, even with the lack of sleep I suffered with almost every night. Maybe I should ask Carlisle about insomnia, I thought dryly to myself. It was possible that it was harder to get up that morning because of the nightmare of that night. I usually never even remembered my dreams, but that night I did.

I had been running through the familiar, white corridors. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to run. Even though I knew I had to leave, I stopped and walked into a room, room 218. Emmett and Rosalie were huddled in a corner, their faces contorted with fear. "Bella!" Emmett had yelled at me. "Bella, run!" I was scared. Edward walked through the door with a smile. I smiled back, and he stalked closer to me. Why were Emmett and Rosalie so scared? Edward was very near to me now, I could feel his breath on my face. Then his eyes grew wide, his expression wild. Those emeralds were the last things I saw before I jolted awake.

Had that truly, been a nightmare? I couldn't stop asking myself that morning as I showered then changed into the uniform white scrubs. It really couldn't be considered a nightmare. Nothing had _looked_ scary, but everything felt wrong, and that was what made me call it a nightmare when I had first woken up. Why had my brother and his angel been so afraid? Were they afraid of Edward? It couldn't be fear of Edward, because it felt almost like he was afraid too. His smile was one of reassurance, not of malice. The whole thing was confusing and the fact that I couldn't shake it made it frustrating as well. But even more frustrating, or should I say disconcerting, was why did the dream feel so real? Why does my heart pick up in pace whenever I think about it?

I couldn't stop asking myself questions I didn't have answers too. It seemed that that had always been one of my many flaws, asking questions that I would never have answers for. That was just one of the many flaws that I forced myself to live with, along with the papery white skin, the splashes of freckles on random parts of my face, the boring brown hair that frizzed up in humidity and rain, and the too common chocolate brown eyes. I probably found that to be my biggest imperfection: my eyes. Rosalie was so captivating with her violet-blue eyes. I had never seen those eyes on someone else and I never would. That was how special they were, they were never made twice. Emmett had always-bright hazel eyes that, with different days, would vary in greenish tints, to golds. My dad had told me that on the day that he had found Emmett in an abandoned house, all alone, they had been more of a dark gold. Apparently, they had been greener on the day I was born, and they were the first things I saw. Though they would never be as green as Edward's were. Even in the dream, when they were glistening with an unknown aprehension, they were captivating. I shook my head, ridding Edward from my thoughts. I decided to wait until I had to confront him again to think more about his green eyes, and his bronze hair, and his chiseled jaw, and…

"Just think about something else," I whispered. I hated talking to myself, but nevertheless I did it very frequently. Sifting through my thoughts, I desperately tried to cling onto something that wasn't Edward. What was something completely not Edward? Up until Edward somehow entered my every thought, my mind would always be consumed by my brother. More often than not it was the last few yeaers of his life that I thought about, his dilusions, his admittance to VMI. However sometimes I mulled over the happy times, the memories of my brother that made me remember why he means so much to me, why I felt obligated to help him.

Emmett had been in my family since before I was born. My dad, the chief of police, had gotten a call one night from a concerned neighbor who lived near the outskirts of town. He had heard shouting and crying from the house next door; my father went to investigate. Though, when he reached the small rundown house, there was no crying or shouting, only a scared three-year-old boy. It took my dad hours to get the boy to talk, he only stared hopelessly at nothing, but when the boy whispered almost silently, "I'm Emmett McCarty," my father took home my brother. When Emmett asked who Charlie was, he merely replied, "I'm Charlie. I'm taking you home now, son."

Renée didn't seem to mind Emmett at all, she treated him like he was her son. In truth, he really was their son, because they loved him. Shortly after adding Emmett into the Swan family, Renée told my dad that a fourth member was coming. September thirteenth. I was born, and Renée loved Emmett, my dad, and me. I had a real family, a simple family with loving parents and a very protective big brother. Through the years, Renée forgot that she loved us. She couldn't take the pressures a family put on her shoulders, even if she was just a housewife whose only job was to take care of us. I turned eleven, Emmett was fourteen, and Renée broke our real, simple family. I remember her with bags in her hands rushing towards the door, my dad pleading with her grabbing her arms. Emmett told me to stay in my room as he ran into the kitchen where my dad was still trying to convince Renée not to go. I didn't listen to him. I slipped into the hall watching the scene from a distance, and I always regret that.

"Mom!" Emmett had said reaching out to hold her hand, to stop her, but she took a step away from him.

"You are not my son! I can't live here telling you that you are because you aren't!" she was shouting now. "I won't live here being someone I'm not!"

Both Dad and Emmett stared at her as she ran out of the house. But I wasn't watching Renée destroy our family; I watched how Renée's words had stabbed Emmett like knives of fire and hatred. I watched Emmett's hope and happiness slip away. I watched my big brother be tortured by our mother's lies.

I was on the road in my old red truck. Tears were trailing down my face as I remembered that night. I always wished that I could go back to that night and listen to what Emmett had told me. I wish that I could go back and hide in my room, burying myself under blankets and pillows. I always wished that I had never witnessed the only time the ever-present smile on Emmett's face left along with Renée.

Renee destroyed our family in more ways than one. her leaving tore Charlie apart. He became quiet and rarely spoke to either me or Emmett. We knew it wasn't us who our dad was ignoring, it was just that he had become numb. Emmett then took up the job of raising me. Though I had very few friends, okay maybe no friends except for the librarian, I never felt lonely because my best friend, the only person I felt I needed in life was my big brother and I knew he would always be there for me. When Charlie passed away a few years ago, the pain wasn't so great since I felt like I had lost dad a long time ago. The doctor's said it was a heart attack, I knew it was heart ache. It just took a couple of years to consume Charlie completely to the point that it eventually killed him. Emmett was there for me our entire lives when no one else was.

I wiped at my face erasing the fallen tears I had shed from my little trip down memory lane on the drive here. I locked the truck door and trudged into VMI. "Hi Bella!" Mike Newton was waving at me with an enthusiasm that I had absolutely no desire of returning.

"Hey Mike." I responded. Mike was constantly asking me to go on dates with him. Why couldn't he grasp that I wasn't interested? Mike wasn't ugly by any means. He had a bulky physique with straw yellow hair that he styled in short spikes. His blue eyes weren't tinged with another color like Rosalie's; his were pure. Mostly because they seemed to be filled with such innocence. Mike's blue eyes never had to see his loved ones deteriorate one by one as I had. Furthermore, I truly wasn't interested in dating anyone. Why would I complicate my life further with the inevitable drama that is a relationship? Seeing Emmett in his current state and my working at VMI, my heart just couldn't take anymore ache and if I got attached to someone and got my heart broken I don't think I could've handled it. What was the point in waiting for pain? There I was asking questions again that I knew no one would answer for me. Mike's voice broke me out of my reverie.

"So Bella you look good today, well you look good every day," he chuckled nervously. I knew most women would find his stammering endearing, adorable even, but all I could think about was trying to come up for an excuse to put us both out of our misery with his pointless infatuation. "Anyways, I was thinking that tonight after work we could go to the sports bar across the street. There's – "

"Oh I'm sorry Mike, but I'm busy tonight. Rosalie and I are having a girl's night." I tried to wrack my brain and see if I had already used that excuse. It seemed like I had given every possible excuse as it is. Soon I would have to resort to the ever convincing "I have to get rid of the ghost in my attic."

"Oh okay then. Maybe next time Bella. See you later. Maybe even for lunch?" he smiled his warm smile and his eyes twinkled with that innocence that I found so refreshing.

"Yeah, maybe." And with that I walked past him and to my station at the end of the hall. I checked to see if I had any immediate messages from any of the doctors and found that I did not. That meant just the usual rounds for me today. Over the course of the morning I administered pills and spoke briefly to most of the patients. One of the patients however had a sort of breakdown while I was giving her her pills. Stephenie claimed she saw the sparkly vampire looking in her window again last night. Stephenie's hallucinations were nothing new to me for she always spoke of her sparkly vampires, but she hadn't had an episode this dramatic in a while. I had had hope that she was recovering but of course I was proved wrong. It only reminded me further that having hope here was useless.

I finally arrived at Emmett's room. A little anxious to see him because I was about ten minutes late when it came to my daily schedule. Stephenie took longer to calm down than I intended. I opened the door expecting to see my big brother sitting on his bed with his big goofy smile, the one he wore whenever someone would come visit him. He hated being alone. Instead I was met with ruffled covers and no Emmett in sight.

_**AN:**_

_**schmerin: we so nice sister for posting a bunch of chapters. **_

_**MMJ: hahaha yea we be some awesome beezies.**_

_**schmerin: no doubt. we deserve love...and REVIEWS!  
**_


	3. Think of You Later

***Emoella is ours... that is all.**

***chapter title: Think Of You Later by Every Avenue  
**

Of course all logic disappeared from my brain as I saw the empty room. I didn't consider that he could be having a session with Dr. Cullen, or that he could be walking around the garden with Rosalie, or he could even be in the recreation room which were all totally plausible explanations for my brother's disappearance, but me being paranoid and now I realize just a generally negative person, I immediately jumped to conclusions. The scenarios ran through my mind like wild fire, each one ending in me finding a very dead Emmett. I finally settled on the idea that he had killed himself in an attempt to be with his angel for he had tried this before in the beginning which became one of the most prominent reasons for me to seek him help.

"Emmett! Emmett!" I frantically yelled. I was scared to step deeper into the room, afraid to see if his crumpled corpse would be in a corner waiting for me. I knew I was shaking as I tried to take a step forward, but was instantly met with resistance in my legs. "Emmett." I whispered. I realized that I had lost my voice as well as my sanity in that moment in time. I finally willed myself forward and scanned the room, bracing myself for the agony I was sure to feel once I saw my lifeless brother. But that agony never came. Emmett was nowhere in the room. I breathed a sigh of relief but was quickly consumed by worry yet again. If he wasn't in his room where was he? It was then that I heard his signature laugh, loud and deep, coming from somewhere in the hall. I ran out of his room to follow it and locate him. He wasn't in the hall, but I heard him talking. I followed the voice to the slightly ajar door across from his room.

"No way dude! That's fucking hilarious." I opened the door to find Emmett grinning from ear to ear as he sat on a chair across from where Edward sat on his own bed.

"Seriously! She keeps telling me that I'm supposed to be sparkling. What the fuck right? I don't look gay do I? It's the hair isn't it? It's not my fault. I can't do anything with it even if I gave shit enough for me to try to do something." Edward's velvety tenor resonated in the room and was met with another one of Emmett's guffaws. I hadn't seen Emmett act so carefree, so like the old Emmett in a long time, at least without the presence of Rosalie. Even with me it seemed as though he was guarded; like he didn't feel comfortable talking with me anymore.

"Hey Em. I was looking for you." I said as I took a step into Edward's room, my paranoia fleeing as soon as I heard his familiar chuckles.

His laughter stopped instantly. "Oh hey Bells! Didn't see you there. Sorry, I was just talking with Edward here. I'm not in trouble or anything am I?"

"No Em it's fine. You two seem okay in here so if you need anything just let me know. I'll see you later." And with that I left the room, avoiding eye contact with Edward. It was irrational for me to act this way. He was just another patient and it was just another dream, even though he was a very handsome patient and it had been a very vivid dream. I also wanted to leave so that Emmett would hopefully continue to talk to Edward without any reservation. This was the most he had ever interacted with anyone other than me or Rosalie since he first arrived here.

Edward was, in all sense of the word, a mystery. The first time I saw him, he had created an effect on me that I had trouble shaking off. He had me dreaming about him in nightmares that had the very essence of mystery. Then he had Emmett in his old state, laughing and happy as if he had never witnessed Rosalie's "death." Edward was changing me. He was changing the way I thought, dreamt, even the way I felt for the patients. Whatever he did that had returned Emmett into his old familiar self had given me…. Hope? Did all his antics really give me the hope I had abandoned so long ago?

I sighed, looking about the hallway. No one walked amongst the corridors, but that hardly surprised me. I continued on, starting on my day to check on the other patients.

I never expected much of the day; today was no different. My last round about the halls, I poked into each room, noticing Angela or another nurse in most of them. The patients all seemed the same, with their blank faces. It made the new found hope within me falter a bit. I wanted to hold onto it longer. I didn't want to lose it so fast, not again.

I skipped past Emmett's room because I knew he was in session with Dr. Cullen at the time. They had weekly sessions that I assumed had no effect on Emmett either positively or negatively. Emmett seemed the same to me and Dr. Cullen wouldn't tell me what they discussed because of patient confidentiality so I had no way of knowing if Emmett was improving or not. I turned around and found myself face to face with Edward's door. I could feel my heart rate accelerate. Why was I nervous to enter his room? I started to repeat to myself my new mantra "He's just another patient. He's just another patient." as I knocked on his door and opened it slightly so I could peek in.

"Edward?" I called. I tried to keep my voice as steady as possible. Stupid nerves. It was all stupid. I shouldn't be affected like this by a man a barely knew, let alone a man that was a patient at the hospital in which I worked. I opened the door a little bit wider to get a better view of his room and hopefully him. I found him in the same position I saw him in earlier when he was talking with Emmett, sitting on his bed with his back to the wall. His eyes were closed as his head of unruly bronze hair was propped up against the wall. He looked to be frowning and for some weird reason I had the sudden urge to run my thumb over his forehead and smooth out the lines that marred his beautiful face with what seemed to be annoyance. "Umm, okay then. Sorry for disturbing you." I mumbled, feeling that blush color my face. I was usually more composed around my patients, but of course Edward was different.

"Don't go." He said in a tired voice, but it didn't sound like he was tired with lack of sleep but with exhaustion.

"How are you?" I asked trying desperately to remain professional and not cross the room and sit next to him on his bed. He looked like he needed comforting and I felt like I should be the one to comfort him.

He chuckled dryly. "Well, seeing as I'm doomed to be locked up in this room for the rest of my eternity, not too bad." His sarcasm surprised me. How could he act like this? He was so… normal. I didn't understand him.

I didn't know how to respond to his little joke, so I changed the subject, quite abruptly. "You talked to Emmett," it was just a statement. He shrugged.

"Yeah. What about it?" he asked nonchalantly. I continued to stare at him incredulously.

"He doesn't really talk to people. Just me and Rose." Edward smiled.

"He told me about her. He really loves her." I nodded. He really did. "You take good care of him, you know." His voice had gone quiet. He was looking away; I couldn't tell what expression he wore in those green eyes. "I had a family once; I wasn't always lonely like this. He's lucky to have you. To have someone." He turned to look at me and I saw something in his eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time, it was something that at first, I had to think about to remember what it was. I saw his longing. I had only seen sorrow for what seemed like my entire life. Emmett was usually happy, but he had never looked like Edward had at that very moment. I was broken out of my reverie as his expression changed into the same uncaring look it had been before our conversation had turned personal. "What about you?" I gave him a questioning look. "Your family? " He pressed on. I turned away, I didn't want to talk about my torn past. I couldn't just ignore him though. I sighed.

"Emmett is my family. My parents are gone." I didn't know what Renee was up to these days but either way I didn't lie to him. Both Renee and Charlie were gone.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." He said quickly, obviously hearing the sadness in my voice.

"No, it's fine. It's not your fault, I'm just sensitive." I attempted a lame chuckle to reassure him. I didn't want him feeling bad for bringing up my past. It was my burden to bear and I didn't want anyone else exposed to it. I slowly looked up, tearing my gaze from my ratty white shoes. I was shocked at what I found. He was looking at me in such a way that I couldn't help but stare back. His deep green eyes were not filled with sympathy or even embarrassment but with what seemed to be anger. It reminded me of my dream. The longer we held our gaze the more it felt like Edward was looking past my bull shit and could see that I had my own issues that were clearly affecting me. It's funny, sometimes it felt like I belonged in this place as a patient and not as a nurse. I was starting to feel uncomfortable, exposed so I looked away. I started to turn so that I could leave, no longer seeing a need to remain in his room other than the fact that he intrigued me so wholeheartedly.

"So is it possible to get one of those shitty TVs in here? I'm bored as fuck and the one in the recreation room is always set to some Teletubbies shit. I need some form of entertainment. I'll even take some basic cable crap like Jerry Springer." He was smiling this crooked smile that made it almost impossible to say no to.

I felt a smile spread across my face. I felt like I hadn't smiled in months and somehow this one guy was able to achieve so much that I believed impossible in only a few days of his arrival. "No, I'm sorry I can't get you one. You're just going to have to get your trash TV fix somewhere else."

"Well I can always just ask you to tell me what happens then. I'm going to miss watching those douches from Jersey Shore."

I actually laughed at that. "You watch Jersey Shore?" I asked.

"Of course. Who doesn't nowadays?"

For the next hour I sat on his chair across from him. Though our conversation was mostly about Snookie and "The Situation," I realized that I was having fun. I hadn't smiled like that since…I couldn't remember how long it had been.

Conversations with him were so unlike any I had ever had in VMI. He didn't talk about sparkling vampires or dead angels. Edward talked about life, and he was so oblivious to the fact that no one in VMI had one…including me.

_**AN:**_

_**schmerin: so a lighter chapter. we wanted to show that not every chapter is angst with angst and more angst.**_

_**MMJ: yea its just a lot of angst.**_

_**schmerin: kinda sucks that we don't have anymore chapters to post though.**_

_**MMJ: well if our peeps give us love maybe we will crank this shit out**_

_**schmerin: hahaha sounds like a plan.  
**_


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